Wine Shop Basics

James Housteau arms you with the right questions to make any wine shop experience stress-free.

Shopping in a wine shop can be stressful. Here are 4 questions to ask yourself, and once answered, will reduce your selection from 2000 choices down to less than 20.

If no one is there to help you, and if its a good wine shop there should be friendly help, here are the question to keep in your head.

1. Sweet vs. Dry
2. Red vs White
3. Old World vs New World
4. Under what Price

1. Sweet vs. Dry: This is a big one. Over 95% of the wine in our shop is considered "Dry." Think of dry as being "Not Sweet". This is the most important question because most people do not swing back and forth. If you are not sure if you are a sweet drinker check the alcohol content... one indicator of sweetness is an alcohol content under 10%. Next time you enjoy a wine check the label for the %. This will let you know who sweet you like it. The reason is that alcohol and sugar have an inverse relationship so the higher the alcohol the lower the sugar content. Dry wines typically range in the +12% range.
2. Red vs. White: Again, another major choice that will cut down your selection by 50%. Most people already know which way they go. If you are planning to have food a real quick rule is if you are having read meat or hearty dishes red is always a good choice and lighter dishes typically have more success with white.
3. Old World vs New World: Fruit or No Fruit that is the question. New world wines typically have a more Fruit Forward style. We like to call them cocktail wines. These are wines that you can enjoy without food. Old World wines are more complex as the fruit is more in balance and other nuances share the stage. Typically these are more food style wines. Remember these are all generalization to help guide you. For example, I prefer Old World wines and I drink them cocktail style.
4. Price: The almighty question How much do you want to spend? Any good wine shop will have good wine at any price. Just figure out what you want to spend and go from there.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Wine